How would you describe your music to any person who may have never heard it before? Phil: The Phil Firetog Trio & Co is a group that combines complexity and depth to make music that immerses listeners in a heavenly experience of sound, rhythm, and cadence. Their music continuously evolves and stands out from the competition. It is music that is, at a turn, delicate and ornate, gentle and poignant, elegant and powerful, eloquent and eclectic.
Who are your major influences as a band?
P: John Butler Trio, Dave Matthews Band, The Spill Canvas, John Mayer, Matchbox 20, and As Tall As Lions.
What are some of your songs about, if you mind sharing? Past or forthcoming. P: A lot of my songs are about relationships. Not necessarily about love but all the different relationships and experiences that we attach ourselves to. "Storm" is a song that dives into mental illness. It dives into my relationship of coping with a girlfriend that suffers from the disorder. However, it's my relationship with the disorder.
"Ball & Chain," as much as it sounds like a love song, it's about a previous band and our relationship dynamic and how it felt like a marriage, but certain members were holding us back from our goals and dreams to progress.
My new single "Long Island Christmas Eve" is about my relationship with Christmas Eve. I was born into a Jewish family. However, we celebrated Christmas too on my mother's side. But here on Long Island, we have a strong Jewish community too -not necessarily religious- and on Long Island, a few Jewish friends would get together every year and have this tradition to all meet up for late-night dinner. It grew into something bigger, and all of our friends started participating in it as well. No matter where life brought us every year, we come back home to family and would still meet up late at night. Start off at the diner, grab drinks, and celebrate after. We dress up festively and just celebrate together and rejoice.
If given the chance, what musician would you like to collaborate with? Rather this is to either write a song or be featured on a track. P: I would absolutely love to collaborate with Rob Thomas. To see how he breaks down a song and builds one from scratch would be an amazing lesson in itself.
What’s the forthcoming single "Long Island Christmas Eve" about? P: "Long Island Christmas Eve" -which has a November release- is a festive and nostalgic reminder of the friendships we all have and keeping in touch with those who may have moved far away. This song is based on my own personal tradition of a Christmas Eve dinner, meeting up with friends who may live out of town but return home for the holidays.
What’s something you hope people take away from "Love Island Christmas Eve?"
P: I want people to feel the holiday element in the song, the joy, and the spirit. Let the song remind them of something personal for them this holiday season. And transport them to Christmas Eve every time they hear it.
Do you have any favourite songs to perform live? Could be your own music or even a cover. Any reason why? P: I think the band as a whole love playing our song "Muse" live. It's one of our most through-composed songs. It's along of fun to play with a lot of changes.
If you could perform a show this very second anywhere in the world, where would it be? Is there any particular venue(s) or city/cities that comes to mind? P: I visited Japan a few years back and actually had a chance to play an open mic at one of their live houses. They really seemed to love the music there too. I think it would be wild to have the whole Trio & Co. play there, full sound and see the response.
What do you currently have planned for the remainder of the year? P: We are planning to release more singles every few months. There's a lot of new music coming your way. Thanks for taking the time. Is there anything you want to end off on before you go? P: Please, if you could support us and follow us on all social media. Reach out, shoot us a DM. We would love to connect and hear from you all.
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